


The Escape

by CourtneyFG



Series: Young Avatar [3]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-10
Updated: 2015-02-10
Packaged: 2018-03-11 12:15:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3326912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CourtneyFG/pseuds/CourtneyFG
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra gets overwhelmed by her destiny and runs away from the compound.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Escape

**Author's Note:**

> Part of 'Korra Appreciation Week'
> 
> Prompt - Animal Companion

She never understood why her mentors kept harping on about _spirituality_ and _balance_ and _destiny,_ she was nine, and for all she understood of what they were talking about, they might as well be talking about the migratory patterns of the winged lemur. She was never going to understand any of it and she was going to fail at being the Avatar and she missed her mum and dad. It wasn’t the first time that she’d felt overwhelmed by the pressures or her _responsibility_ but it was the first time that she decided to do something about it. She had a plan and with proper timing it might just work.

Korra could hear the winds swirling around outside and it sounded as frenzied as her insides felt. She double-checked her provisions, _jerky, fur lined gloves, check, check and double check,_ and she practiced a couple of the self warming breaths her Fire Bending Master had been teaching her, she felt ready. If all this went according to plan she would be at home with her parents in a few hours. It was well past her bedtime so there shouldn’t be too many guards patrolling outside her quarters, now was the time to go. She slipped out of her room and made her way to the kitchen, which had an adjoining loading dock, which meant it was also close to the compound’s ice wall. Korra quietly slipped past a napping guard and jumped off of the dock landing with a soft thud in the fresh layer or snow. Now came the hard part, she had to sprint to the wall then quickly melt her way through the wall and freeze it behind her to cover to tracks, all in the space of time it took the security flood light to make a sweep of the compound. She watched as the light illuminated the spot on the wall where she would make her escape then started to run.

 The winds were wilder on the other side of the compound’s walls and the storm meant that she couldn’t see the stars to navigate by. Korra new the general direction of home and all she cared about right now was putting as much distance between her and the compound, so she blindly trudged on. After about half an hour Korra felt her foot fail to meet solid ground and she fell. The snow had disguised a crack in the ice and she was now about a meter down trapped between two walls of ice unable to reach the top or form an useful bending stances. She tried to be brave but no one knew where she was. She just wanted to go home and be with her parents, she didn’t mean for this to happen. She didn’t want to end up like Avatar Aang, stuck in an iceberg for 100 years, then she’d never get to see her parents again, she didn’t want that. Korra started to cry all of her fire bending training to do with self-heating forgotten, at this moment she was just a scared and alone nine year old girl.

 She didn’t know how long she was stuck down that crevice but her mind was playing tricks on her, she though she saw something the size of a cat dear pull her out by the scruff of her neck, then she slept. She was lying down and she was warm, the walls weren’t closing in around her but were spacious and unimposing. She felt warmth next to her body, something fluffy but as she stirred, the heat source skited away from her and bared it’s teeth letting out a low growl. Korra was too tired to be afraid, without moving her position she held her hand out to the polar bear dog as a friendly gesture. It wasn’t as big as the others she’d seen, so she figured it must still only be a pup. The animal cautiously sniffed her hand and gave it an affectionate lick. Korra was still too exhausted to move but having gained the beast’s trust she felt confortable to sleep again, after a few minutes she felt the animals warmth by her side once again.

 The next morning Korra woke up to the polar bear dog licking her face, the snowstorm from the prior night had died away and everything was bright. Her belly gave a loud growl so she pulled some of the jerky out of her bag and started to hungrily show it into her mouth. When she looked up the animal that have saved her the previous night was staring at the food in her hand, it had saved her, so she guessed the least she could do would be to share her food with it. She opened her bag and tipped the entire contents out in front of the beast. As it bent down to eat she have it a pat on the head and gave her thanks for the rescue. Korra turned to the entrance of the cave ready to embark on the rest of her trip home.

The White Lotus would know she was missing by now and were probably already searching for her. Gaining her bearings from the sun’s position she headed out and figured that if she spotted any White Lotus she could bend herself under the snow and hide until it was safe. She had only made it a few hundred metres when she heard running coming from behind her. Korra turned to see her new large white fluffy friend running straight for her, it skidded to a stop next to her and panted. To be honest she was glad to have the company. They travelled side by side for a short while, during which time Korra decided to call her new friend Naga, but the animal was bored and started to run circles around her. Korra figured that if Naga wanted to run she wasn’t going to stop her (it was a her, she checked), she stopped to tell her that if she ran ahead should would catch up, but Naga just lied down and looked back and forth between her back and Korra. She had never ridden a wild animal before, or any animal for that matter, so she hoped she was doing the right thing when she climbed on lying on her front with her arms around Naga’s neck. It must have been the right thing to do because in no time at all Korra was traveling faster than she had ever moved in her life, everything just looked like a blur of white 

The duo travelled like this for barely 20 minutes before the reached civilisation. At the border to the small village Korra climbed off of Naga’s back and lead her through the streets to her parents place. As they walked people gave them a wide berth avoiding the wild beast. When they reached her parents place she suddenly felt scared, were they going to be mad at her for running away, were they going to yell, were they going to send her back. She stood at the front door too afraid to knock but Naga took the lead and gave a loud bark. At which point the front door opened to reveal both her parents, whose faces quickly melted from relief when they saw their daughter to scared when they spotted Naga. Korra reassured them that Naga was friendly and they she had in fact saved her life and that she wanted to keep her.

The White Lotus had been in contact with Tonraq and Senna to let hem know their daughter was missing, they knew their daughter was hot headed and impulsive at times, which made them even more concerned about her disappearance. Both looked on concerned as Korra told the story of how she ended up on their doorstep with an adolescent polar bear dog. The first thing Tonraq did was radio the White Lotus to let them know that Korra was safe, while Senna drew her daughter a bath and found some food for her new pet. Her parents didn’t try to dissuade her about the animal, they both knew their daughter better than that and Korra wouldn’t let her new friend go. Korra spent about an hour in the bath, constantly reheating it with bending, afraid to go out and hear what the repercussions for her abandonment would be.

By the time she dried herself off, clothed and made her way to the living room, both her parents were sitting at the table drinking tea while Naga slept in front of the fire. She stood in the doorway looking expectantly at her parents; they just looked at her while her dad patted the seat next to him. She sat down at the table with her parents as her mum passed her a cup of tea and her dad explained the conversation he’s had with the White Lotus. Apparently the White Lotus weren’t used to dealing with angry parents because when her dad had told them that they weren’t treating his only daughter well enough, with their behaviour ultimately leading to his child’s escape, they caved to his demands for the treatment of Korra. From now on she was to be allowed use of the radio when she wanted to talk to her parents, she got to keep Naga with her at the compound and was to be allowed out of the compound to give the animal some exercise and starting from today, Korra got to spend the next fortnight at home with her parents. She couldn’t believe her luck, not only did she get to keep Naga, she wasn’t getting punished and she got to spend the next two weeks with her mum and dad, just the three of them (plus Naga). Maybe things hadn’t been so great in the past but things were starting to look up.


End file.
